New restrictions, including the closure of gastropubs and restaurants, are set to be introduced.
The government is set to reject a proposal from the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) to return to Level 5 restrictions in Ireland.
According to multiple reports, Cabinet will reject the proposal to move to Level 5 when it meets on Tuesday, but will introduce a series of further restrictions over the coming days.
The Cabinet sub-committee on Covid-19 met on Monday night and amongst the measures it is believed to have agreed upon include:
- Closure of pubs and gastropubs from Christmas Eve
- Closure of cinemas, theatres and personal services, such as hairdressers, from Christmas Eve
- Extension of travel ban from UK to Ireland until 31 December
A return to a restriction on inter-county travel is also anticipated at some point after Christmas Day, as are restrictions on household visits, which are expected to be prohibited completely in the New Year.
The Cabinet sub-committee is believed, however, to have recommended that gyms and some non-essential retail services be permitted to remain open.
The recommendation from NPHET to move to Level 5 comes after a further 727 cases of Covid-19 were reported on Monday.
Speaking on Monday evening, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Tony Holohan said: “Our current disease trends are gravely concerning. The situation has deteriorated rapidly in recent days.”
Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, added that Ireland is “clearly now in a third wave of this pandemic”.
“The virus is transmitting very rapidly, faster than we have seen at any point since March, Nolan said.
“The case numbers are growing at least 5-7% per day and, of particular concern, across all age groups.”
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